CHICAGO — Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Chicago Cubs and always receives boos from Chicago White Sox fans when he travels to the South Side, caught a pop-up in shallow left field to end the second inning Thursday. He turned toward the third-base line and hurled the ball directly at the fans in the stands.
It wasn’t a souvenir.
Thankfully, there’s a net that protects the fans at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“I always have fun with everybody yelling at me,” Báez said. “I should have tried throw it a little higher, but I did try to throw it to the net. They were yelling good stuff, not so good stuff, but it’s always fun to compete against real fans that really care about you.”
The Opening Day antics from Báez brought about another round of boos from White Sox fans, then again moments later when he stepped to the plate as the leadoff hitter in the third inning. Báez slapped a ground-ball single into right field, stole second base and scored from third base on a sacrifice fly.
Just like that, the Tigers scored their first run of the 2024 season.
The Tigers beat the White Sox, 1-0, behind the early run from Báez and dominance on the mound from left-hander Tarik Skubal. The first-time Opening Day starter, a preseason American League Cy Young candidate, completed six scoreless innings with zero walks and six strikeouts, throwing 83 pitches.
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“When I went out for the first, I was pretty nervous,” Skubal said. “It’s kind of full circle, though, because I debuted here (in 2020) with no fans. To come back and be able to start Opening Day kind of makes up for that in a way. It was awesome.”
The Tigers (1-0) took the one-run lead into the ninth inning.
Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin, who completed the eighth, retired the first batter in the ninth — left-handed hitter Andrew Benintendi — before giving way to right-handed reliever Jason Foley.
Foley disposed of Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. to finish the game for his first of what could be many saves this season. He painted a down-and-in 100.2 mph sinker to Moncada for a called strikeout, then blew a 101.3 mph sinker past Robert for a swinging strikeout.
Thanks to Skubal and three relievers, the Tigers didn’t need to score more than one run.
“The goal when you come to the ballpark is to win,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and it’s nice to win the first one. The guys are excited. It was hard-fought, it was close. There were a lot of opportunities to extend the lead, but it’s pretty rewarding to go 1-0 so far.”
There was no one better than Báez to score that lone run. He likes to play the villain when on Chicago’s South Side.
The more fans boo, the more Báez produces.
“They never learn,” he said.
“It’s like my kids,” Hinch said. “The (opposing) fans start it, and Javy just keeps pestering back at them.”
On his third-inning single, a proud Báez dropped his bat and held his arm in the air after taking a few steps out of the box. He pointed to the fans behind the Tigers’ dugout on his way to first base. Báez stole second base, then advanced to third on Parker Meadows’ groundout.
He scored on Andy Ibáñez‘s sacrifice fly.
“When you get booed, you don’t want to suck because they’re going to do it louder,” Báez said.
White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet covered six innings of one-run ball with a mix of fastballs and sliders. Crochet, a former reliever who started his first game since college, was outstanding and limited the Tigers to five hits with zero walks, racking up eight strikeouts.
Skubal was even better.
He kicked off his Cy Young campaign by generating a hefty 20 whiffs (on 49 swings) with 10 fastballs, five changeups, three sinkers and two sliders.
His fastball averaged 96.7 mph.
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“He wasn’t really spinning the ball early,” Hinch said, “but the changeup started to come and the power on his fastball started to come. You see the head nod, and you see his mojo, moxie. You could tell he was starting to get into it and feel a little bit better, and then it’s like any other game.”
A special diving catch
Left fielder Riley Greene wasn’t afraid to dive in his return to Guaranteed Rate Field.
He suffered an injury to his non-throwing elbow — requiring Tommy John surgery — in his last visit to this ballpark. He was hurt making a diving catch Sept. 1 and missed the final month of last season. Greene was tested in a similar situation 209 days later, once again in left field, when he charged a hard-hit ball from Kevin Pillar and put his body on the line.
“I had to face my fear,” Greene said. “What better place than here?”
Skubal turned to left field and watched the play unfold.
Greene made the diving catch.
“Let’s (expletive) go,” Skubal screamed.
“Playing with no fear, that’s awesome,” Skubal later said. “One of the hardest things to do when you come back from injury is play with no fear.”
The Tigers played solid defense behind Skubal, aside from first baseman Spencer Torkelson’s mistake in the first inning that led to an infield single. Torkelson covered first base instead of going after a ground ball that would have taken him to his backhand — his weakness.
Skubal struck out Benintendi on a down-and-away slider in the first inning to begin his 2024 season.
He also struck out three batters in the fourth inning: Robert (swinging strike, 88 mph changeup), Andrew Vaughn (called strike, 85.5 mph changeup) and Paul DeJong (swinging strike, 96.5 mph fastball).
Colt Keith’s MLB debut
Colt Keith, making his MLB debut, experienced something he’ll never forget in the fourth inning.
He poked a down-and-away slider back to Crochet. The ball bounced and deflected off Crochet’s glove. Second baseman Nicky Lopez tried to barehand the ball, but wasn’t able to pick it out of the infield dirt.
It was ruled an infield single for Keith’s first MLB hit.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Keith said. “I went out there, and it was overwhelming with people and how big the stadium was. After I had my first at-bat, I settled in and it felt like just any other game. All the hard work and everything paid off today. There’s a lot more work to do and more goals down the road.”
Keith ran 29.2 feet per second down the first-base line.
“That’s probably my fastest home-to-first,” Keith said. “I told you guys I could run. Nobody believed me.”
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The Tigers had a big opportunity to increase their one-run advantage in the eighth inning against Michael Kopech, a nasty but wild right-hander, who loaded the bases with Kerry Carpenter (hit-by-pitch), Torkelson (single) and Mark Canha (walk).
But with two outs, Matt Vierling chased Kopech’s slider way below the strike zone for a swinging strikeout.
The Tigers will have a chance Saturday afternoon to strike for more runs facing White Sox right-hander Michael Soroka, while Kenta Maeda makes his first start with the Tigers.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Next up: White Sox
Matchup: Tigers (1-0) vs. Chicago (0-1).
Tipoff: 2:10 p.m. Saturday; Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).